Chinese Leaders Research Articles

A Review of on China by Henry Kissinger: Insights into Diplomacy and History and its Implications for Afghans

This book review critically examines On China by Henry Kissinger, exploring its significance in the fields of international relations, diplomacy, and history. The review summarizes the book's key themes and sections, with a focus on Chinese foreign policy and the evolution of Chinese leadership. Additionally, it contextualizes the book's relevance for Afghan scholars, policymakers, and students by highlighting China's expanding influence in Afghanistan. The review emphasizes the importance of understanding China’s geopolitical strategies and concludes with insights into how the book can inform future policy decisions.

The Changing Role of Leaders in Chinese Foreign Policy Making Process

China has experienced a long period of rapid economic development. As a result, China has become one of the world's most important economic actors. The transformations China has experienced have made the foreign policy-making process quite complex. In the Chinese political system, leaders have always played a critical role in foreign policy making. However, the role of the leader has become more important since Xi Jinping came to power. This article mainly examines how Chinese leaders, and Xi Jinping in particular, play a role in foreign policy making. This study basically seeks to answer the question to what extent Chinese leaders have power and influence in foreign policy making. China's current economic and political structure does not allow leaders to come to power who would cause major upheavals in the overall direction of the country. This study basically argues that no matter how powerful they try to be, Chinese leaders have limited power and influence in foreign policy making. This study is based on constructivism’s analysis of the agent-structure problem.

The Long-term Economic Growth Impact of Chinese Investment in Africa

Africa and China have always been a community of destiny, with close ties and similar historical backgrounds. However, investigating whether the Chinese investment benefits the sustainable economic growth for Africa is valid. The gist of this essay is to look at the impacts of the Chinese investment on Africas economic growth. Through analysing the structure of Chinese investment, the constraints to Africas growth, the impacts caused by Chinese investment, and their effectiveness of them. The Solow Model is an exogenous doctorial model that is recognized by the public and also focuses on long-term economic growth. The essay will apply the Solow Model to realistic situations and use it to prove the effects that Chinese investment brought by using derivatives such as capital, investment, labor force, technology, and output. The properties of the Solow Model will also be involved. The research result is that Chinese investment has indeed helped Africas sustainable economic growth and it also fits the properties of the Solow Model. Meanwhile, there are some constraints and lack of effectiveness along with the benefits. So the essay concludes that even though the Chinese investment benefited the long-run economic growth of Africa, the African governments still need to increase their interventions in the market such as introducing policies that can control the dependency on Chinese leadership. And it is also important for Africa to maintain the ability to think independently and have its agendas.

Comprehensive Regional Economic Partnership as a Mechanism of China's Integration into World Economic Processes

In this article, the author analyzes the impact of RCEP on the process of China's integration into world economic processes. The regional multilateral format of economic relations is a relatively new experience for China, therefore, the author considers China's participation in the RCEP as a possible beginning of a new stage in the implementation of not only regional, but also global ambitions of China. Recently, China has begun to integrate more actively into world economic processes, while putting forward its own initiatives for interaction in a multilateral order, for example, the Belt and Road Initiative. In addition, China is beginning to assert itself in already existing economic associations, for example, within the framework of the RCEP. However, in this case, China faces a number of problems, one of which is the presence of two competitive powers in the Asia-Pacific region: the US and Japan. Due to economic competition with China, both powers benefit from the policy of curbing the growth of China's influence in the region. In addition, today China has a very modest experience of participating in regional multilateral formats, largely due to the priority of the bilateral format of cooperation in China's foreign policy. The author comes to the conclusion that, claiming today to realize their global ambitions, the Chinese leadership is aware of the importance and necessity of the country's more active participation in regional integration processes.

Image restoration strategies in pandemic crisis communication: a comparative analysis of Chinese and American COVID-19 political speeches

This study explores the effectiveness of image restoration strategies in pandemic crisis communication at the highest levels of administration. By integrating corpus-assisted discourse analysis with Image Repair Theory, it aims to uncover the prevailing strategies adopted by Chinese and American leaders to restore or enhance a positive national image in the post-COVID era. Lancsbox 6.0 was utilized to extract excerpts and analyze linguistic devices from a self-built corpus of 144 political speeches delivered by top leaders in China and the United States. The results reveal that Chinese leaders, through the use of shared image restoration strategies such as bolstering and transcendence, shape a positive national image of a responsible country. In contrast, American leaders construct a confident and ambitious national image, projecting a leading geopolitical role in the world. These strategies have distinct features that contribute to the image restoration process. Apart from contributing significantly to the comparative research on Chinese and American pandemic-related political speeches, the research findings carry implications for the practice and promotion of national ideologies. The study also highlights the diverse ways in which credible and accurate crisis messages are employed, providing valuable insights for handling pandemics or other crises in the foreseeable or distant future.

China’s Abandonment of Self-Reliance and Sino-American Opening before 1979

ABSTRACT This article re-examines why and how China abandoned one of the core ideological principles of the Mao era: self-reliance. This did not occur after 1978 and Deng Xiaoping’s ascent to paramount power, but instead from 1971, when technocratic Chinese leaders redefined self-reliance to include importing advanced technology to better develop China’s resources, including for export — a change that anticipated the policies of post-1978 Reform and Opening. The article argues that this redefinition was possible because Sino-American rapprochement and the end of the US technology and economic embargo on China provided previously unprecedented levels of access to US and Western technology.

Actualization of Axiolemmas in Political Discourse of Russia and China (New Year Addresses of V. V. Putin and Xi Jinping)

This article presents the findings of a comparative study on the values articulated in the New Year addresses of the political leaders of Russia and China. The research addresses the challenge of identifying the determinants that influence their choices within epideictic texts. An analysis of the New Year addresses delivered by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping from 2019 to 2023, approached from a linguo-axiological perspective, has highlighted the concepts of PEOPLE and GOVERNMENT, indicating the significance of themes related to the populace and representatives of authority in the political discourses of both countries. It is demonstrated that these congratulatory speeches actualize vital, political, national-cultural, moral-ethical, economic, and ecological concepts. Among these, the Russian President’s addresses place the greatest emphasis on the representation of moral-ethical concepts, while the Chinese leader’s addresses provide a more detailed presentation of political concepts. It has been revealed that in the speeches of the Chinese political leader, the concept of GOVERNMENT is verbalized through references to the country’s political party and through the expression of personal sentiments using the first-person singular pronoun. The results of this study have identified both objective and subjective factors that determine the selection of value dominants reflected in the New Year addresses of the political leaders of Russia and China.

Unisex Fashion as a Social Practice: A Comparative Study Between Young Heterosexual Consumers in the United States and China

Using Alan Warde’s tripartite model of practice theory (understanding, procedure, and engagement) as our theoretical framework, we compare how young heterosexual consumers in the United States and China understand, follow the perceived rules of, and engage with unisex fashion, and how different socio-cultural values and political ideologies in these two countries shape consumers’ gendered perceptions and practice of unisex style. We interviewed 15 participants in each country. Our findings suggest that unisex fashion is a more routinized practice for US participants, who appreciate gender fluidity due to a long history of fighting for gender equality and the current political emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Chinese participants, however, demonstrate a more deliberate and reflexive attitude. While they claim to embrace unisex fashion to express their gender identity, they are still restricted by a heteropatriarchal definition of gender, particularly with the recent revival of traditional gender ideologies advocated by the Chinese leadership. This comparative study of a gender-related fashion practice contributes to a reappraisal of cultural meaning within practice theories. We hope this study will stimulate further intellectual interest in the intersections of fashion studies, consumption research, and cultural sociology.

The Political Economy of Lauchlin Currie's Land Tax Policy in Wartime China

Abstract This article examines Lauchlin Currie's land tax policy suggestion during wartime China and its political economy. Our study, based on unpublished archival materials, aims to clarify the reasons for and outcomes of Currie's first visit to China in 1942. It is argued that Currie, acting as a sincere adviser, based his policy recommendation on extensive surveys of the political and economic conditions of wartime China. In his efforts to persuade the Chinese leader Chiang Kai-shek to implement financial reform, Currie drew on the authority of Sun Yat-sen's economic thought and the leadership analogies of Franklin Roosevelt and New Deal policies.

Implementation of the policy of technological sovereignty in China

The article analyzes the current policy of ensuring technological sovereignty in China in the context of growing global turbulence. For half a century, China has traditionally paid significant attention both to the country's innovative technological development and national independence at the state and public levels in this area. For that the state provides financing for leading breakthrough innovative and technological areas, contributes to the growth of demand for innovations in the national economy among legal entities and individuals, forms a self- developing institutional structure of the innovation ecosystem, creates conditions for personnel growth. Due to international cooperation and China's desire to enter the global innovation system for effective interaction at the global level, the country has significantly advanced in the world innovation rankings and achieved substantial results in a number of key technologies. At the same time, the Chinese leadership sets new long-term goals and forms appropriate plans for the development of the innovation sector in order to achieve new results implying the challenges that China faces in the technological sphere against the background of the trade war unleashed against the PRC by the United States and a number of other Western countries. The purpose of the article is to analyze the stages of China's innovative and technological development, as well as the results that the country has managed to achieve over a number of decades. The article shows that China has sufficient potential to ensure technological sovereignty in key technological areas based on a common high and dynamically developing economic situation, a capacious domestic market, significant financial opportunities – national and attracted – and international cooperation.

Аллюзии к философской классике Китая в речах Си Цзинь-пина: функции, особенности, интерпретации

The article is dedicated to the problem of detection and interpretation of allu­sions to the Chinese philosophical classics in the speeches of PRC President Xi Jinping. Despite the significant semantic richness and specific linguistic appear­ance of allusions, the official translations of the Chinese leader’s speeches into Russian are extremely inaccurate in both form and matter. The paper presents an analysis of allusions to the philosophical classics written in wenyan found in the speeches of Xi Jinping in the period from October 1, 2022 to October 1, 2023: it describes the methodology for identifying the objects of allusions, car­ries out its interpretation in the contemporary context, highlights the key features of this phenomenon, as well as the reasons for the use of such a specific tool in political discourse. As a result of the research, it was concluded that allusions are being used as a convenient form of expressing ideas both for Chinese and non-Chinese audiences, but with intention to make these ideas fully perceivable only by the first in order to avoid a negative reaction from the second. In addi­tion, the analysis of speeches shows higher frequency of references to the legalist treatise “Guanzi”, Tang emperor Li Shimin and the philosophical category “order­liness” (zhi) by Xi Jinping, as well as clear signs of weak hierarchical inclusivism (according to Stanislav Yu. Rykov) in the choice of the sources for allusions

Who is an Ideal Follower in Chinese Leadership Paradigms?

Who is an Ideal Follower in Chinese Leadership Paradigms?

Diplomatic Geography of Xi Jinping: What the Statistics of the Chinese Leader’s Foreign Visits Reveal

This article seeks to delineate the foreign policy priorities of the People's Republic of China (PRC) by analyzing the international visits of Chinese President Xi Jinping. It posits that the evolution of a state's foreign policy can be traced through the foreign engagements of its leaders. This is particularly pertinent for China, where presidential visits are historically significant. The article offers an overview of China's traditional diplomacy and the foreign policy activities of Xi Jinping's predecessors. It concludes that Xi Jinping continues to undertake foreign visits in alignment with the «openness» policy, similar to his predecessors. Through a detailed analysis of the frequency and destinations of Xi Jinping's international visits over his two terms, the authors present a periodization of his foreign policy priorities. A comparative analysis is conducted on the visit frequencies of Xi Jinping and his predecessor, Hu Jintao, with adjustments for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. With Xi Jinping's re-election for a third term in 2023, this study provides insights into the nature and priorities of China's foreign policy for his current term and potential developments in the ongoing five-year political cycle. The findings indicate that from 2018 to 2023, Xi Jinping increased his visits to Southeast Asian countries, particularly Indonesia and Vietnam, while maintaining a consistent focus on Russia and the United States, akin to the approach under Jiang Zemin. The enduring partnership with Russia, spanning over two decades, corroborates the assertion that Sino-Russian relations are at their strongest in the history of bilateral ties. Data for this study were sourced from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, and materials from the Chinavitae and China Power research projects.

How Chinese business leaders in the tutoring industry learned to think strategically in a time of crisis

AbstractChinese leaders in the tutoring industry encountered a crisis brought about by the Pandemic and the Double Reduction Policy. This exploratory multi‐case study applied a conceptual framework that combines informal learning, strategic thinking, and experiential learning theory to explore how those leaders learned to think strategically in this crisis. Fifteen Chinese educational entrepreneurs were interviewed about their strategies and learning experiences related to the crisis. The findings suggest that the participants learned to think strategically from direct experiences, indirect experiences, and two thinking processes – systems thinking and metaphorical thinking. This process was also influenced by Chinese cultural and historical wisdom. This study extends the current understanding of strategic thinking and learning practices among Chinese educational entrepreneurs. The research contributes to cultivating Chinese leaders’ strategic thinking capabilities through informal learning during crises and offers practical value for leadership development in Chinese culture.

On the Dual International Identity of Contemporary China

Since the beginning of the 21st century, one of the central research questions for Chinese IR scholars has been the definition, justification and conceptualization of China’s international identity. This was due both to the discussions in the Chinese academic community about China’s peaceful rise, caused by the rapid growth of China’s material power, and to the “constructivist turn” in the development of IR as a discipline in China. Understanding China’s international identity is important not only for China itself as a way of understanding “itself” and “others”, but also for the world community, since the self-positioning of a state reveals its national interests, aspirations, foreign policy strategy and behavior. From the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 to the end of the 1990s, when analyzing its foreign policy self-positioning, it was always possible to identify a dominant international identity. In the 1950s it was a pronounced international identity of the PRC as a socialist country, in the 1960s–1980s as a third world country, since the 1990s as the largest developing country. However, since the second half of the 1990s, China has started to reveal its identity as a responsible great power while simultaneously maintaining its identity as a developing country. The use of two international identities by China for almost three decades and the intention repeatedly emphasized by the Chinese leadership to maintain self-positioning as a developing country for a long time allow us to conclude that China’s dual international identity is not a reflection of the transition period of China’s development, but represents a complex phenomenon that requires conceptualization. The purpose of this article is to reveal the phenomenon of contemporary China having a dual international identity or, in other words, simultaneously two dominant international identities that determine China’s actions on the global stage. The author intended to reveal, based on an analysis of Chinese academic publications, the Chinese vision of the phenomenon of dual international identity.

The strategic-level effects of long-range strike weapons: A framework for analysis

ABSTRACT Can long-range strike weapons (LRS) create strategic-level effects? Despite extensive debate about the impact of LRS on contemporary warfare, the question of how such weapons can create strategic-level effects has received limited attention. I identify four strategic functions LRS can fulfil to create strategic-level effects: (1) counter-population, (2) strategic interdiction, (3) counter-leadership, and (4) counterforce. By fulfilling these functions, LRS can undermine the will and/or capacity of the adversary to resist at the strategic level of warfare, independent of warfighting efforts located at the tactical and operational levels. I apply these arguments in an analysis of China’s conventional missile arsenal and doctrine. My analysis suggests that Chinese leaders believe that employing LRS for strategic functions constitutes a potentially effective way of subduing their enemies. The findings have implications for scholars’ and policymakers’ understanding of the role of LRS in international politics and contemporary warfare.

Mao's Cambodian Legacy: An “Ideological Victory” and a Strategic Failure

Abstract Drawing on untapped Chinese primary sources, including archival documents, the biographies and memoirs of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials involved in managing policy toward the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and, in particular, the memoirs of members of Huayun (an ethnic Chinese revolutionary movement) in Cambodia, this article shows that under Mao Zedong the CCP's policies toward the Khmer Rouge were subordinated to Mao's political needs and indistinguishable from his domestic policies. The Khmer Rouge's victory in Cambodia was significant to Mao in light of the tense relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Soviet bloc. In 1973 and 1974, Chinese leaders rejected U.S. proposals to restore Prince Sihanouk to power in Cambodia and later refrained from any criticism of the mass slaughter perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge, including the systematic killing of ethnic Chinese in Cambodia. As a result, the post-Mao leaders were unable to disengage from Cambodia or to restrain the Khmer Rouge. Mao's “ideological victory” eventually translated into a strategic debacle for the PRC.

Transferring paternalistic entrepreneurial leadership behaviours (PELB): Chinese organisations in sub-Saharan Africa

This article evaluates the processes of transferring managerial and leadership practices of Chinese entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). From the lens of paternalism, we investigate Chinese entrepreneurs’ behaviours towards their African employees in Kenya, Zambia, and South Africa (SA). Through 148 interviews (with 127 interviewees) from 78 organisations, we explain how the Chinese paternalistic entrepreneurial leadership behaviours (PELB) are legitimised, transformed, and resisted in African settings. Chinese leaders adopt a nurturing approach to transfer managerial and leadership behaviours within paternalistic cultures in the development of their organisations in SSA. We articulate the types of Chinese PELB that help to sustain Chinese organisational development and those that hinder this process in SSA.

Nationalism in China: Changing Parameters from 1993 to Present

This paper examines the promotion of different nationalist discourses in China by three generations of CCP leadership: Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, and Xi Jinping. It analyzes the changes in Chinese nationalist discourses through the lens of CCP legitimacy and in light of the ongoing struggle in China to modernize while retaining its identity. The paper finds that nationalist discourse varied under different Chinese leadership in response to the changing domestic and international environment. Furthermore, these changing nationalist narratives highlighted China’s tussle with its modern identity and its traditions.

Media analysis of the text on the example of Chinese strategy of information warfare

The topic of media analysis of information wars in the context of the Chinese issue is of academic interest, both for understanding current events and for improving information analysis methods and media strategies. The article assesses the influence of media on China's behavior in the information war, characterizes the challenges associated with media analysis in China's information war, describes methods and metrics for analyzing media content about the information war in China. Information technologies at the current level of development create broad opportunities for managing political conflicts both on the scale of one state and at the regional level. These technologies, which are actively used in information wars, have a number of advantages over traditional means of struggle due to their massive impact on the moral and psychological state of the population of the enemy country or individual parties, movements and political associations. The article uses a discourse analysis of the media text, identifies expressive linguistic means, the semantic meaning of words and expressions, and the communicative orientation of the text. The empirical basis of the research is the article "Celestial Truth: who and why is waging an information war with the PRC". The main conclusion of the study is that modern technologies and social media have become a powerful tool for influencing public opinion and shaping the perspective of events. The information war in China has a global impact, attracting the attention of the international community. Global media and international platforms actively monitor and cover events in the region, which can influence the perception of the conflict beyond its borders. The impact of the information war has a significant impact on public opinion. There is the use of various methods, including fake news, disinformation, to influence public sentiment and views. The Chinese concept of network warfare opens up further prospects and opportunities for the Chinese leadership and military specialists to work on the creation and implementation of the latest technology samples.